My big fat greek holiday

Straight after graduating and packing my life in boxes again, my boyfriend and I went on our first holiday alone together to the idyllic island of Skiathos. It had some of the best sand beaches I have ever been on, was featured in Mamma Mia (yes, I sang along) and hosts a renowned gyros place. Truly the ideal place for a chill couple's holiday 💕

Cheating on Milan for a day

View of Varese from the Giardini Estense

Even though Milan is a cosmopolitan and international industry powerhouse in which most dream to fit its hectic half jet-setting half latin rhythm, I find myself daydreaming of the day I'll get to take a train out of the city and into the green countryside. There's a small chance the 9 hours I spend in an office every day contribute to my oxygen depravation but I know myself enough to say that being outdoors is what brings me peace and happiness. Thankfully, my job also entails sometimes spending a day a week at Villa Panza in Varese, a small city I had never heard of and never really intended to visit anyway.

What to see in Paris | Off the beaten track

Touristy Paris is relatively easy and quick to see - three days in the capital of 'joie de vivre' should suffice if you're after the classic trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, snoop at the Orsay and selfie with the Notre Dame Cathedral. But I think no one should be content with seeing just that; not saying these attractions aren't good but they aren't particularly telling of the REAL Paris, the one you discover when you get lost or when you take a route less known.

Chateau de Sceaux | day trip from Paris

What do you do on a *hot* September day in Paris? You take the RER and head to Sceaux, that's what! 

Tenerife holiday throwback

I’ll skip the chit-chat and the apologies for being a bit M.I.A on here (oops, guess I just broke my own promise). Life got hectic, I’m actually giving my degree a proper shot with exams this term and don’t even get me started on the year abroad organising saga - that’s for a different post.

To make it up, I’m treating you to some summertime beauty: photos from my Tenerife holiday last summer. As if you need more reminders to brace your not-bikini-ready body that summer is coming…

Impressions of Florence

Two weeks later here I am, memories of Florence still fresh in my mind and pile of revision prompting me to find any excuse of procrastination. I swear if anyone asks why I have a blog that the most honest answer is to procrastinate efficiently and productively - as if that was ever a thing. So let's keep it short and sweet whilst I virtually walk you through my favourite haunts in the Renaissance jewel that is Florence.

What I'd call a perfect weekend

Term's almost done and the trip to Florence fast approaching (expect a ton of photos on here). That didn't mean that I couldn't treat myself to a weekend city break to London to see my mum.

Tuscan travel diary - Part I

I still battle the idea of a Tuscan holiday. Not in a Lionel Shriver 'I loathe Kevin' sort of way but in the sense that it still doesn't feel like a holiday but more like a tour de force. When we settled on the Italian region of cheese and art and cypress trees as our destination, I envisaged horse rides over grassy hills, balloon flights in the early morning and picturesque drives. Only the latter materialised as the first was just ignored by my co-travellers and the second proved a little too expensive x3.

To paint the most accurate picture, it is challenging and exhausting but only if you come set on seeing EVERYTHING like yours truly. The area is full of quaint little villages which almost all have some jewel of a church or piazza but at one point they will blend in a mass of unrecognisable places. There is nothing I hate more than simply calling something 'that place', it means I haven't done my job as a tourist. So, if you plan on visiting, chill out and go with the flow, there's sure to be the perfect place to pop on your journey! Hopefully, this travel diary will only make it easier to decide :)

DAY 1: London - Milan - Bologna - Sesto Fiorentino

The flight was on the early side but hey, that only meant I could have pancakes in the airport which to be fair put a smile on my face for a few good hours. Yes, I am very easy to please in some respects. The drive from Milan to Bologna slightly long and tedious but my parents insisted on entertaining me (more themselves to be pretty honest) with stories from their eventful previous trips from their youth. Bologna was where I had my sights set on some bolognese pasta, for obvious reasons that need no further explanation. That being said, it was bloody hard to find and when we did, they weren't that great sadly. We arrived at our hotel in the outskirts of Florence late at night but I might do a separate post on that!

Morning aerial view of the Alps, yes please! Especially after pancake breakfast at like 6.30

L'île flottante

Sudden realisation that I hadn't posted on my weekend in Paris from December! I don't quite know how to forgive myself so I don't expect you to but maybe, just maybe, the photos will make up for it. In all honesty, is a reason really necessary when talking about Paris?

Our room on the 4th floor of Hotel du Levant in the Quartier Latin - the full French expecience of narrow streets

Our beloved means of transport

Monument de la Bastille, where the fortress used to be

Narnia-like entrance to Place des Vosges

The exclusive shopping streets of Les Marais

You probably can't guess but my attire for the weekend was a Mango sweatshirt that said 'PARIS' in black sequins. How to show you're a tourist and you love Paris with one simple statement. 

The megalith that is Louvre

An amazing sunset over the railway next to the Tour Eiffel

Pont Alexandre II, the most romantic bridge ever

View from our boat cruise

Snapshots from the musical 1975 - an Eurovision show meets French Revolution

Oscar Wilde's grave in Pere Lachaise cemetery

...and lipstick marks on it

Inside of Musee de l'Armee

Christmas fair on the Elysee 

Me and my wedding dress

The Hermes window, absolute love!

Within the La Madeleine, the catholic temple church which is an absolute dream 

Place de la Vendome at nighttime in Christmas

Breeze through the reed

In a last ditch attempt to relive my winter holiday I've resurfaced the photos taken during NYE celebrations. As I might have mentioned ('may have' being key, I can't remember), a group of friends and I rented the Casa Salzburg villa in the Transylvanian town of Sibiu. Despite the pretty long 5 hour train journey there and incredibly heavy luggage that was so crippling that I had to get a taxi for what would have been 700 meters from the station to the villa, it was really nice!

I tend to go to new places with an empty slate but I hadn't been sightseeing in Romania for a shamefully long period of time so I really didn't know what to expect. The city however didn't disappoint. Infinitely cleaner than Bucharest's busy streets, the main two squares were charming, dotted with traditional houses dating as far back as the 14th century, pedestrian wide streets and a perfectly seasonal Christmas fair.

Of the attractions I recommend are the Great and Small Square, clearly the converging points of the city where everything is within walking distance. Then, I would suggest the Brukental museum, the Great Cathedral, the Liars' Bridge (the symbol of the town) and the fortifications around the old city centre. 

We also had a nice day out and some much needed fresh air in the Astra Museum, an open air park displaying the best collection of traditional Romanian houses, windmills and micro-villages. Even with the biting frost, it was definitely worth the trek- which applies to the entire trip! A bit of a lazy ending, but you get where this is going :)

Council Tower, a fortification building since the 13th century, which off course you can climb :)

The Small Square and the spire of the Cathedral

Aerial view of the Liars' Bridge - has an interesting history, look it up if you're curious and have 2 minutes to spare

Sibiu fortifications from the 15th century, I think ?!?

Frozen lake from the Sibiu Zoo

My friend accurately demonstrating Darwin's evolution theory ^.^

Astra Museum

Trusty Uniqlo beanie + Zara coat, my mum's ancient vintage wool sweater (a life saver), Zara bag and Promod jeans